How Take-Out Containers Can Help Reduce Food Waste

Now more than ever, people want to protect the environment and divert items from landfills. Although many individuals immediately think of how they should prevent paper or aluminum items from ending up in these places, there is another category to consider: food waste.

A substantial amount of food products go to waste and remain uneaten. However, restaurant and coffee shop owners can help address this problem. Discover how take-out containers can help reduce food waste and improve the environment.

The Benefits of Reducing Food Waste

Before we review how your take-out packages can help prevent food from going to waste, you may wonder, “What are the impacts of decreasing food waste?” They can be quite substantial, and doing your part will give you the satisfaction of helping the planet. Read about several of these benefits below.

Fewer Emissions

If you don’t think that food waste pollutes the air, think again. When manufacturers produce and transport food, it results in CO2 emissions.

Furthermore, when your eatery discards unused food in the trash, it will emit methane as it decays and harm the environment. You can do your part to reduce waste by offering smaller portions and providing customers with take-out containers. Both efforts can reduce the release of methane in the atmosphere.

Less Waste of Resources

Another benefit is that it helps stop the waste of important resources used to grow or manufacture food, such as the water that farmers use in their fields. By investing in eco-friendly or sustainably sourced containers, you will help ensure that expending those resources is not for nothing.

Lower Costs

Trying to reduce the rate of food waste will also unlock opportunities for savings at your restaurant or coffee shop. Ultimately, the less food you waste, the less you will pay for waste removal services.

In addition, when people waste food, it can lead to food becoming less accessible, which may result in you ultimately paying more to serve it at your restaurant. You will have to charge more for those meals, which won’t make your customers any happier. Plus, you’ll earn your money’s worth for what you used to prepare and serve the food.

Less Trash

This last benefit may seem obvious, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Reduce the amount of food that people waste will decrease the presence of food in landfills. Instead, the food will ultimately satisfy and nourish people’s bodies rather than damage the environment.

How Take-Out Containers Reduce Food Waste

After discussing the benefits, we can now examine the various ways food containers can help reduce food waste. Review these so you can understand why your restaurant or coffee shop should start offering these packages and prevent products from ending up in your trash cans.

Easy Transportation of Leftovers

When a customer finishes a meal at a restaurant, they might have a significant amount of food left over on their plate. If that eatery didn’t have a convenient way for them to take home the remaining food, the wait staff would have to the items away.

However, when a restaurant has bulk to-go containers, available, customers have a simple way to transport their food. Now, the food is unlikely to go to waste because they can finish the meal at home. Customers will be happy to enjoy the food for a second time, and you can rest easy that you’re preventing unnecessary pollution.

Keep the Meal Fresh

Another way that take-out containers prevent food waste is by keeping meals fresh. Although some containers may allow customers to transport meals home easily, they may fear that certain packages won’t prevent them from perishing before they reach their destination.

Your restaurant can alleviate those concerns by stocking containers that manufacturers have designed to maintain freshness. Consider offering a plastic container with a tight seal that customers can easily open and close. Thanks to the seal, the meal will stay at the appropriate temperature and remain preserved, allowing your customer to enjoy the remaining bites of their entrée in the comfort of their own home.

Container Sizes Help With Portion Control

When customers order take-out food from a restaurant, it’s easy for them to order an amount of food that exceeds the size of their appetite. This can result in them throwing away the remaining amount of food that they don’t want to consume. However, you can prevent this by offering a variety of meal portions that fit a wide range of appetites.

For example, if your restaurant offers soup to its customers, consider stocking 32- and 16-ounce containers that will accommodate different levels of hunger. Those who are especially hungry will opt for the 32-ounce container, while those with smaller appetites can choose the 16-ounce one, without having to unnecessarily throw away extra soup once it spoils.

Microwaveable Containers Offer Preparation Convenience

Providing your customers with microwaveable take-out containers can also help reduce the rate of food waste. This is because this packaging makes it easier for customers to prepare their leftovers for consumption after they bring them home.

Although all containers will help them store their food in their refrigerators, some may find it too bothersome to transfer the food to a microwave-safe container. That may result in them throwing the food out with the container.

However, you can prevent them from taking this step by providing them with a microwave-safe container. Your customers can put the food into the appliance while it is still in the original packaging and warm it up. That will allow them to finish the food before properly disposing of the container.

Clear Containers Remind Customers About the Food

One last way to help prevent food waste is by providing your customers with clear take-out containers or ones with transparent lids. These products will allow them to see the condition of the food through the clear lid whenever they open the refrigerator.

This will motivate them to eat the food while it is still in good condition. Otherwise, without this view, they may end up letting the food spoil and become waste that they must throw away.

After learning how these containers can help solve the problem of food waste, don’t hesitate to purchase them for your business to offer to its customers. By doing so, you’ll have the comfort of knowing that you’re contributing to the preservation of the planet and its resources, as well as making it easier for consumers to enjoy your food in their homes.